WVU, Career Athletes to Host Career Forum

By Shannon McNamara

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September 03, 2013 01:46 PM

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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University, in partnership with Career Athletes, will host a Career Forum for Mountaineer student-athletes this fall.

Scheduled for November 4 at Touchdown Terrace, located at Milan Puskar Stadium, businesses and organizations from across the nation will come to Morgantown to network and mentor with the University’s student-athletes. WVU is one of only 15 institutions nationally to host the forum this academic year.

“I believe this will be a great event for our student-athletes and our University,” says WVU Director of Athletics Oliver Luck. “The Career Forum offers WVU student-athletes the outlet to focus on their future beyond sports. This is a unique opportunity that will bring in a variety of national companies and executives to our campus.

“As one of only 15 athletic departments to host this prestigious event, I am assured that this will be a special night for all involved. I am ecstatic that we can offer our student-athletes this opportunity, and I commend (WVU Associate Athletic Director Compliance/Governance) Keli Cunningham for all her hard work to bring this to our campus.”

Hands on, in-person interaction highlight each Career Forum event, with the hope that student-athletes will be afforded the opportunity to develop a unique skill set that will help them land a job and/or internship upon graduation. Included in the Forum’s instruction are: career message, employer panel, roundtable discussions, speed networking and a career networking event.

“This will be a great opportunity for the student-athletes to gain networking experience and to interact directly with employers for potential career placement,” says Cunningham. “I believe that the variety of skill-building instructions scheduled for the event, including the round-table discussions, employer panel and speed networking, should increase the student-athletes’ career awareness and position them for future job opportunities.”

In an effort to better prepare attendees for this unique and beneficial opportunity, career counselors from the WVU Career Services Center will conduct mini-workshops for the student-athletes throughout the fall semester that will cover a wide-range of topics, including instruction on resume building and helpful tips on how to get the most out of a career fair.

“This Career Forum is specifically tailored to student-athletes, and it will be held at night when their schedule is more accommodating,” says Adrian Ferrera, EdM, a WVU Career Services counselor. “Several companies like to work with student-athletes because a lot of the skills that make them successful in their sport are transferable.”

While upperclassmen will be required to attend the Forum, the workshop and career fair will be open to all student-athletes.

“I’m excited for our student-athletes to gain valuable lessons and insight at the Career Forum,” says WVU gymnastics coach Jason Butts. “We place so much emphasis on equal success in the classroom and in the competition arena, and I believe this Forum will give our student-athletes an edge when they enter the workforce following their time at West Virginia.”

Career Athletes is an online community that aides in the connection between current and past college student-athletes. The network helps members advance their careers and get jobs through networking with each other and employers who want to hire them because of the traits and dedication it took to be a student and an athlete.

Updates throughout the fall on the WVU Career Services mini-workshops, as well as a list of participating companies and an inside look at the student-athlete experience, will be posted at WVUsports.com.